Perplexity
by thatreevesgirl
Summary: A bottle of sake, a copy of Icha Icha Assassins, and some very deep seeded feelings...will these three things be enough for Sakura and Naruto to admit the truth to one another?  Now complete.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Naruto, any part of Naruto, or its characters. I only borrow them to make them do horribly silly things at no profit to myself. Please support the anime and manga we all love.

* * *

**Author's Notes**: (edited on 9-6-07) This work was heavily edited because it was sucky before, part two will be up soon.

* * *

**_Perplexity_**

**_by thatreevesgirl/Lemon Drops (both me) _**

**_Part One of Two: Night _**

* * *

Sakura was standing on the hotel bed, wobbling precariously with her pretty, pink kimono hiked up around her thighs. She smiled affectionately at the man watching her from the doorway. The room was ill-lit, so it was rather hard to make out the seductive little sway of Sakura's hips as she beckoned over to Naruto, a smirk splayed on her lipstick-painted lips. 

"Gasp…my assassin has come to…assassinate me!"

Sakura kept the laughter at bay for as long as she possibly could, but after a few seconds she broke down into a fit of giggles. "Where does Jiraiya-sama come up with this crappy dialogue?"

"Better question," Naruto began, voice deeper than normal and brimming with a seductive, gravely quality. The blond young man propped himself against the doorframe, arms crossed casually as he smiled at the kunoichi, then continued what he was saying, "How does Kakashi-sensei stomach it?" Naruto's eyes watched her hungrily, but he held himself back, even turning his gaze away from her when she locked eyes with him for a few seconds.

Sakura's shoulders quirked upward quizzically, getting his attention once again, and then she dazzled Naruto with a warm grin, plopping down onto the mattress beneath her.

Susceptible…Uzumaki Naruto was most definitely susceptible to the wiles of Haruno Sakura. To him it didn't matter that her heart was probably stalled on their teammate. Both of them still chased Sasuke with reckless abandon, but for different reasons. Perhaps Naruto would step back and let her have another shot with Sasuke if the bastard ever returned, the blond man mused, even though his stomach churned at the thought. Naruto's heart didn't agree with that assertion either. He didn't want Sakura to love Sasuke anymore, because the Uchiha bastard had hurt her one too many times.

"I'll make you a deal, dear Assassin-san. If you spare my life, I'll let you have my body in return, to do with however you please." Sakura wriggled herself until she was sprawled quite provocatively upon the bedspread. Her jade eyes were filled with a playful innocence as Sakura once again stressed, "_Anything_."

Naruto watched the young woman carefully. He couldn't help himself. The slim dip of her waist, the rounded curves of her hips, the modest, but sensual arcs of her breast—these things drove him crazy. Sakura had changed so much over the years, and what used to be a very innocent crush had become deeper, more physically intense. But Sakura's body hadn't just changed, it was the way she acted, her demeanor, and especially the way she treated Naruto. She was probably the closest friend that he still had in Konoha. She was everything to him.

"Don't tease me Sakura. It isn't funny, and besides…you're drunk." It took great control on Naruto's part to keep himself from walking straight over to Sakura and taking advantage of her tipsy state. He desperately wanted to accept her offer. Naruto watched as Sakura rolled her hips to the side and arched her back sharply, the subtle curves of her breasts peaking from the opening in her kimono. The garment was slowly loosening, her obi coming unraveled as Sakura writhed on the bed and playacted her little scene from the latest Icha Icha. This was a joke, a terrible joke taken way, way too far.

"Kiss me, assassin-san," Sakura giggled, the timbre of her voice resoundingly cheerful as she instructed him further, "Kiss me, make love to me, please, my assassin…please." What started as something quite jovial, ended with a hint of desperation as Sakura begged her friend.

It was just a scene, Naruto told himself. She's just acting out the damn scene because she read it a few hours ago in the bar. That was when Sakura discovered a copy of Jiraiya's book in their booth. Of course the kunoichi had found the story's cheesy plot too hilarious to let go, so she was more than eager to spout lines from it.

This was not the first time that Sakura's innocent flirtations had gone too far. As the years passed, she became bolder with Naruto, tested him and herself and the feelings they had for one another. Sakura, however, always shied away from him when Naruto pressed the issue of them dating. Sakura's smiles, the fleeting glances, the light touches, the way she sometimes caught and held Naruto's eyes with her own; these were just a handful of the things Naruto cherished, but they were also what scared her. What if Naruto was just another Sasuke, someone who hurt her?

Because Sakura meant so much to him, Naruto couldn't imagine what he'd do if something went wrong between them, so he left the issue alone for the time being. Naruto decided to better himself for her, to become "more of a catch" to the girl he loved. It was this meager belief that he held onto; that if he got stronger, more capable, more mature, she'd eventually change her mind. He'd always wanted the Konohan villager's respect, of course; but as he aged, it was Sakura which drove Naruto to the furthest boundaries of his abilities. The fight in him was fueled by her. It didn't take much to have Naruto following her around like a lost puppy. He was all smiles, bright and cheery, as Naruto treasured every second he got to spend with his teammate, best friend, and first love. If Naruto had his way, she'd be his true love, his only love. But such sentiments were silly, weren't they?

Though unsure of her feelings, Sakura held steadfast to the idiot, hoping one day he'd realize just how much her adoration had grown for him. Sakura wished Naruto would recognize the love that she tried to deny, and call her out on it once and for all. He did ask her on dates every now and then, and it was difficult to keep saying no to him, but Naruto didn't realize the reason she kept rejecting him. She was simply afraid of being hurt again, even being rejected herself in the end. Because of this Naruto believed that Sakura didn't want him, and that she didn't like him enough. This was the greatest obstacle that the two friends faced, because Naruto somehow had gotten it into his brain that he wasn't good enough for Sakura.

None of this stopped Naruto from wanting Sakura, or lessened his feelings at all. Sometimes Naruto dreamt about kissing her, and those kisses made Sakura melt just like in the silly novels that Jiraiya wrote. Those dreams were good dreams. Other times Naruto's sleeping world was invaded by nightmares--Sakura dying, Sakura kissing Sasuke, Sakura telling him that he was a buffoon and there would never be anything between them. It was because of all these things that Naruto placed a considerable amount of space between himself and the woman he desired, because Naruto swore that he would never do anything to hurt Sakura, including forcing his feelings upon her.

Kakashi even began to intervene, hoping that carefully placed comments, the seedlings of romantic intentions, planted in his young teammate's brain would eventually grow. Kakashi hoped his hints would make a big enough impression on Naruto that the young man would be completely honest with the girl he liked. Kakashi wasn't as sure with Sakura. Women tended to be a mystery to the copy-nin, but he did leave her little hints as well to be more honest with her feelings concerning Naruto. Sakura blushed whenever her teacher told her this, and sometime she would screech under her breath and call him a pervert, assuming Kakashi had nothing but impure intentions. It was just one more rationale to add to the list of reasons why the jounin preferred Icha Icha to the real thing. After awhile Kakashi left Sakura and Naruto to their own devices, figuring that they'd most likely figure it out with enough time.

However, time was not a luxury given freely to shinobi. Time was precious and fleeting, and though Sakura and Naruto were both incredibly young by most standards, they were shinobi, and shinobi died young. Therefore, there was a pressing urgency in their hearts to do something about their feelings. Unfortunately, neither of them knew exactly what they were supposed to do. This left Sakura and Naruto at a standstill.

But then, as luck would have it, they were thrown into this odd little mission. Taking the B-rank assignment as a break from their arduous training, Naruto and Sakura were placed undercover in this small civilian town. The easiest identities to fake were either siblings (which Kakashi urged them not to do, since the sexual tension between them was often very nearly palpable) or a couple (which Kakashi chuckled at, and approved completely). So off Sakura and Naruto went to this small village on the outskirts of the southern Konohan border, disguised as young teenage lovers looking for work.

The mission was short, heavy on compensation, and relatively easy to boot. Naruto and Sakura shouldn't have had a single problem with it. That was until Sakura had gotten herself drunk while procuring information on a particular suspect, and then fate had blessed her with a copy of Icha Icha Assassins.

The book was hailed as Jiraiya's raunchiest novel to date, but adored by the fans of the long-running series. Earlier when the two of them had been sitting and acting the part of two lovers, Sakura tortured Naruto with readings from some of the more perverted passages. She would giggle and blush, drop another drink down the hatch, then repeat. Naruto could do nothing more than sit across from her and take the prose performance. When she started asking questions about the contents, Naruto almost died of embarrassment. Despite being the student of the two most legendary lechers to ever come out of Konoha, and being the creator of one of the most perverse jutsu ever, Naruto was a rather innocent bystander in his life's own perversions.

"Is yours cut?" Sakura asked once after reading a rather descriptive passage about the main male character's anatomy. Naruto could only remember how his eye couldn't stop twitching nervously for a minute or so. Sakura _hadn't_ just asked him if he was circumcised. He wasn't. It was a common practice in Suna for some reason, but not in Konoha. Naruto had murmured an embarrassed no, and let the topic drop immediately. Sakura was easily distracted again by the book and moved on to some more reading. Aloud of course.

"And he ran his hands up her slim thighs, parting them ever so slightly, breathing deeply as he memorized her intoxicating scent. Do I have an intoxicating scent, Naruto?"

Naruto floundered again. Any other girl in the world and he would have been fine. Ino, Hinata, even Gaara's sister Temari wouldn't have received the mortified reaction Sakura was getting. "No, I mean…I don't know, Sakura."

Of course Sakura instructed him to smell her. He wasn't sure that she understood the scent that the novel was implying (which happened to be that of an aroused woman, not of her perfume or normal body scents). Naruto thought better of explaining it though, and instead sniffed the wrist she offered him. "Like roses, Sakura," he said with a small smile, "You smell just like roses and a bit of vanilla."

Then Sakura read more from the damned book, and of course the stupid thing led them right to where they were now—Sakura laid out on the bed, reciting more of Jiraiya's "masterpiece" again.

Naruto cursed and thanked their serendipitous fortune for finding that trashy novel all in the same breath, because as he looked at Sakura, Naruto realized that he couldn't have wished for a more wonderful sight. She was hooking her thumbs into the collar of her kimono, and Sakura managed to spread it further off her body. Now her bindings were in plain view, as well as the three miniature kunai and about six shuriken which had been stealthily hidden in her obi.

"Oh assassin…" her voice dripped with a sweet, alluring honey. Sakura's tone made Naruto's throat dry and his pants feel infinitely too tight.

"Sakura, I'm going to get you some water and an aspirin, 'kay? I'd hate for you to have a hangover tomorrow." Naruto used the opportunity to wander into their rented quarter's bathroom, digging for some medicine, but also taking the time to splash a little cold water on his face.

_What was he doing?_ Better question: _what in the hell was Sakura doing?_ They weren't kids anymore. They were teetering on the brink of adulthood, their abilities already surpassing those of many elite shinobi. Sakura should know better than to do this to him, even if she was drunk. Naruto tugged at the collar of his charcoal sweater. It was so damn restricting right now, not to mention entirely too drab for his tastes. Tsunade had insisted that he wear something that would keep them both inconspicuous. That was why Naruto was wearing black and grey clothing. The only color on his entire body that wasn't monochromatic was the burnt umber scarf still hanging loosely from his shoulders.

"You look five years older in that," Sakura purred as she slinked up behind him, winding her arms around Naruto's waist and pulling herself against his body. Naruto froze and watched wide-eyed in the bathroom mirror as Sakura's graceful hands locked around him, her head snuggling into his well-muscled back right between his shoulder blades. Naruto's body was rigid and unmoving, because though he was dressed from head to toe, Sakura was behind him in only bindings and a pair of very lovely pink panties. It struck him as funny for a moment, until he groaned audibly at the heat caused from having his teammate pressed so haphazardously against himself.

Sakura was quiet for a few moments, but she broke her own silence by repeating what she had just said prior, "You look five years older," she murmured into his back, "But it doesn't really suit you. You look way too normal, and I've grown to like the color orange."

Naruto appreciated that compliment very much. He also heartily agreed with her critique of his clothing. However, the clothing expertise and advice was only meaningless smalltalk as Naruto realized their bodies were slightly swaying from side to side. Sakura's scent wafted in and out of his nostrils. She still smelled like a mixture of vanilla, rose petals, and sake. He wasn't too keen on the sake bit, but he loved the familiarness of her vanilla soap, and then the rose-glycerin water that she used to moisturize her skin.

Sakura always brought a small vial of it on missions with her, and she was always going on and on about how glycerin in its natural form was much better than the perfumed lotions that most kunoichi and civilian women bought in boutiques. Naruto's fingers grazed Sakura's skin in a small test to see if her fabled rose-water did make her skin as smooth as she boasted. Touching her in timid, fleeting strokes, Naruto realized that it was even better than she had described. Sakura felt sinfully soft.

"Water…aspirin…b..bed…" Naruto's voice forced out. Taking in a ragged breath, the shinobi finally found the ability to speak as he rearticulated what he had told the kunoichi holding him, "You are drunk. You need to take some aspirin and go to sleep."

Sakura didn't listen, and the tips of her long, graceful fingers found purchase on Naruto's belt clasp. It jingled quietly as she fiddled with it. Naruto was in shock, and he actually had to force himself not to slap her hands away. It wasn't that he didn't want her to undo that belt, or the zipper to his dreary black slacks, but he was terrified at what Sakura might say when she was sober. "No…no, no, no…" he said without much conviction, "None of that, Sakura."

"All of it, Naruto," she murmured into the sweater again, getting quite annoyed with the itchy wool. One of Sakura's hands continued to lay claim to his belt buckle, and the other snaked under the bottom of Naruto's offensive sweater, tugging it up just enough to make contact with her partner's well-muscled abdomen. Then Sakura circled her fingers around to Naruto's back and he could feel the sharp rush of cold, autumn air hitting his skin as Sakura lifted the article of clothing up high on his body. Then her lips kissed the slight dip of Naruto's spine, sending a pleasurable shock coursing over the teen's skin.

"S..Sakura, stop," he ordered again, but weakly, even following it with a pitiful, "Please," as Sakura kissed one shoulder blade, then the other.

The kunoichi didn't stop, she just tugged Naruto's sweater a little higher, trapping him in it as she forced part of it over his head. Naruto whimpered, but he couldn't find the strength in his heart to stop Sakura, because he desperately wanted her to continue. More than that, Naruto wanted to touch Sakura back, kiss her, hold her, make love to her like he had done so many times in his dreams.

Falling forward a bit, Naruto's fingers gripped the edge of the sink's countertop. He moaned lightly as Sakura continued laying feather-light kisses on his back. Naruto couldn't see anything, because his sweater was impeding any vision he had. The damn thing was still wrapped half around his head thanks to Sakura. One hand steadily undid his belt, but it moved so slowly and deliberately that Naruto was about to just rid himself of it without her help. The other hand, the one that had trapped Naruto inside his sweater, had found a new interest. Sakura's hand traced the lithe pectorals of the blond man, letting the very slight, curled chest hairs tickle her fingertips. Then Sakura settled on the small, erect nub that was Naruto's right nipple, rolling it between her thumb and forefinger.

"Whoa!" Naruto yelped, actually jumping back a bit as his backside bumped into Sakura. The kunoichi took the opportunity to mold herself further to Naruto's body. Finding the ability to move once again, Naruto shrugged the sweater off, and tried to escape the molestation he was receiving from his friend. "Gotta stop, Sakura, right now."

Any more of this, Naruto thought, and she might realize what the offensive tent in the front of his pants was, and Sakura would probably yell at him and call him a pervert. That was if he was lucky enough to have her speak to him again sometime in the next decade. Naruto was positive that it was the sake talking and touching, not his friend and teammate. Moreover, Naruto desperately wanted Sakura to be in the right state of mind when he kissed her and touched her for the first time.

Pushing Sakura away gently, Naruto murmured a very soft, "Really, Sakura, I'll be game if you want to do this sober, but not like this. Never like this." Naruto allowed himself one small kiss, laying it squarely on her bountifully blessed forehead before taking her hand and leading her into the bedroom. "I'll take the floor tonight, so you sleep well, 'kay?"

As shaky and intoxicated as the kunoichi was, she couldn't help but feel the bitter sting of rejection. It felt really shitty. Naruto pushing her away had been a tremendously crappy thing to do. So what if she needed a little liquid encouragement and a few ideas from an Icha Icha? Didn't Naruto realize that she was being genuine, that she was too scared out of her mind sober to ever approach him like she had done tonight? Sakura's cheeks flamed in embarrassment. What if he thought what she'd done was slutty? Worse, what if Naruto thought she _was_ a slut?

As Sakura climbed into bed she gave Naruto a harsh, piercing glare and murmured, "I hate you," under her breath. It was out of spite, and Sakura didn't really mean it, but Naruto still felt his heart clench at his partner's words.

"We'll talk about it in the morning," he whispered, tucking her into the bed and returning to the bathroom to rid himself of a particularly annoying problem in his pants. Naruto felt like he was going to throw up as he realized that he'd pushed Sakura away and probably ruined the only chance he'd ever have of being with her. He hoped vehemently that he could patch up any problems come morning, because Naruto didn't know what he'd do without his friend, whether their relationship be romantic or not.

After finishing himself off, Naruto returned to the bedroom to find Sakura sleeping, tears staining her pretty cheeks as she gripped her pillow mercilessly. "I'm sorry, Sakura," Naruto whispered in her ear, and stole one last kiss as he laid his lips lightly on the trail of tears and mascara. "I really hope you don't hate me in the morning."

* * *


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Naruto, any part of Naruto, or its characters. I only borrow them to make them do horribly silly things at no profit to myself. Please support the anime and manga we all love.

* * *

**_Perplexity_**

**_by thatreevesgirl/Lemon Drops (both me) _**

**_Part Two of Two: Day _**

* * *

**_Note: _**_If you read this story when I first posted it a while back, then you need to reread the first chapter. I edited it a lot, changing quite a bit, and it is much, much better. You might actually enjoy it this time. XD _

* * *

Morning came very, very early the next day. Sakura swore that the sun rose two hours earlier than it normally did, her internal clock irrevocably screwed up from the sake and her hangover. She vaguely remembered Naruto offering aspirin, and she pondered why she hadn't taken it. Blinking a few times at the harsh light that slipped into the room through the heavy, fabric window treatments on the big bay window, Sakura decided that morning should be banned forever and ever. That or sake, one of them had to go. 

She reached over to Naruto's spot on the bed, the place where he normally lay. On missions they tried to act like mature adults, so sleeping in the same bed wasn't really out of the norm for her and her partner. Her hand ungracefully patted the empty spot beside her, finding purchase on vacant, unused bed space.

"Naruto?" she ventured groggily. "Naruto?"

No answer. Not even Naruto's usual snoring, which she couldn't believe a ninja allowed himself to do, but he did. Every morning she had to shake him awake and he'd snort at her, a disgusting, phlegmy sound that made Sakura want to smack the snot right out of him. It was gross. It was so, ugh, man-like. So it surprised the kunoichi when she realized that Naruto wasn't there, and even more shocked that she actually missed their odd morning routine, even Naruto's snoring.

This was how their morning waking routine went: Naruto snored, Sakura smacked him, Naruto snorted, Sakura shook him awake. Finally, Naruto would smile up at her with sleep-crusted, baby-blue eyes and say, "Hi, Sakura. Did you have a good night's sleep? Any good dreams? Any of me?" She'd smile, sometimes even recount a couple of them for her teammate and friend (as long as they weren't anything too personal), until he started snoring once more. Then the whole process began again until she finally forced him out of the bed.

Today there was a note on their hotel nightstand. It was written in piss-poor code that Sakura could barely decipher. Not because it was difficult, mind you, but because Naruto wrote code like crap. His talents were elsewhere, and code-writing was a skill that he _still_ hadn't picked up yet. She sometimes wondered how he ever passed the Chuunin exam without her. She barely passed it without him. Those three years Naruto was absent from Konoha were the toughest years of her life. She used the time to focus and train with all her heart, but she couldn't deny how much being without both of her teammates and close friends took its toll on her.

More than she wished that Sasuke would have taken her with him to Sound, she was a little bitter than Naruto didn't take her with him as he gallivanted across the countryside with that old pervert. Yeah, being with Jiraiya-sama would have been pure torture, but being with Naruto would have made up for that. Sakura hugged her pillow tight and sighed as she remembered her hangover and the pain in her head.

_Sakura, went out to follow the suspect. Got a hot tip this morning from the manager. I think it'll pan out. Get some rest. _

That was what Sakura managed to get from Naruto's note, though it was all jumbled and the code-syntax was completely irregular and just plain wrong in spots. It made her mad and worried that he took off without her. This wasn't a single-shinobi mission. Taking it on alone was dangerous, and no matter how much Naruto wanted to avoid a grumpy, hung-over Sakura, he should have woken her up and dragged her along.

Sighing again, she noticed a glass of water and a couple of pills on the nightstand near where the note had been. Water and aspirin, she mused, that was nice of Naruto. Crawling back to the nightstand again, Sakura grabbed the glass and tabs of medicine and swallowed them quickly. The water went down the wrong way and Sakura started coughing as she tried to dispel the liquid that had weaseled its way into her lungs. Sakura set the glass back down and tried to control the violent coughs racking her body. As she did so, the kunoichi noticed a book on the floor. It was wedged between the bed and the table, and it looked vaguely familiar.

Taking much effort on her part, because she was hung over with a blinding headache and neither her self-healing or the aspirin had kicked in yet, Sakura bent down to find that it was none other than Jiraiya's newest book _Icha Icha Assassins._ Sakura blinked a few times, and wondered why she knew that the main character was an elite shinobi assassin with an impossibly big, uncut, member; who also had a weakness for beautiful women in formal kimono? Oh yes, because she was reading it in the bar last night…to Naruto.

Sakura's brain stalled and froze for a moment. Naruto? She had read Naruto porn? Bad porn at that about thighs and uncircumcised male anatomy and smells and…oh deceased Kages, she didn't. No, there was no way she would do that, her brain was obviously playing tricks on her. It was a bad dream. All of it.

The memories started rushing back, and she denied they happened. Sakura remembered returning to the room, she remembered undressing in front of Naruto, she remembered feeling him up in the bathroom… Fuck. Sakura remember propositioning him. Sakura swallowed dryly, and tried to sip a little more water to cure herself of the cottonball texture that coated the inside of her mouth. The worst, she recalled, was that she told Naruto she hated him. Then she remembered why she had said that, because he rejected her. The memory of that still hurt.

Sakura was clutching the bedspread to herself as she relived the spotty memories of the night before for a good thirty minutes. The more her headache and hangover disappeared, the more clearly she could remember the happenings of the prior evening. The sound of her own heart was deafening, so much so that she didn't notice when the room door creaked open and Naruto slid inside with every bit of stealth that most elite shinobi possessed. He could be effective at his job when he choose to. He wasn't the bumbling twelve year old of yesteryear. Unfortunately, this was probably why Sakura was completely unprepared when he plopped down on the bed next to him.

She screamed, lunging a shuriken that had been hidden in her chest's bindings straight at his head.

Naruto dodged it, chuckling a bit as the star-shaped weapon lodged itself deeply in the wall behind him. "Settle down, Sakura, it's just me."

"Just you! Just YOU!" With that, Sakura's palm made contact with the back of Naruto's head. "Why do you go all ninja on me when I don't want you to? Why can't you be that stealthy at night and not snore?"

Sakura was shaking, tugging the blanket around herself as she fumed quietly. Trails of mascara were still present on her left cheek, so Naruto stood and found a cloth, dampened it with water, and began gently wiping the black streaks from her face. Naruto wanted to bring up the previous night, but he was pretty sure that wasn't a good idea. If Sakura wanted to talk about it, she would bring it up in good time. Thankfully, Naruto didn't have to wait long. The glare on her face was directed right at him, and as Sakura cleared her throat Naruto was sure he was in for it now.

"I'm sorry about last night."

That wasn't what Naruto was expecting. Sure, she had been the one in the wrong, but he didn't expect her to realize it so quickly, and even when she did figure those kinds of things out, Sakura rarely apologized for her actions.

"So, you don't hate me?" Naruto murmured as he wiped another streak from her cheek.

Sakura felt awful. She could see the hurt in her teammate's eyes, and how it made Naruto's face quirk in an odd, pained way. Now wallowing in guilt, she realized just how much of a bitch she could be at times. Sakura was grateful for the young man with her, because Naruto was the most forgiving, kind soul in all of Konoha, possibly in all the ninja nations.

"No, Naruto, I don't hate you. I could never hate you," Sakura admitted in the tiniest of whispers.

Naruto didn't care if he was encroaching on her boundaries now—or that she was dressed in only bindings, panties, and a bedspread—because Naruto needed to do what he didn't let himself last night. With his rough, callused hands, Naruto tugged Sakura into his arms and held her tight. "I think I should take a cue from Shikamaru and call you 'troublesome' or something," Naruto mused. He still loved Sakura, despite her imperfections, and regardless of the hurtful things she said to him the night before.

"Did I really read you porn?" she wailed into his chest, her whine more from mortification than from annoyance.

"You didn't just read it," Naruto chuckled, "You acted it out on the bed, and…um…in the bathroom too."

Okay, so Naruto had read Icha Icha Assassins, and there was no bathroom guy-molestation scene, but maybe Sakura wouldn't realize that and things could go right back to how they used to be instead of getting awkward or hurtful between them. Unfortunately, Sakura knew better, and she called him out on it. "I think they had balcony sex, not bathroom sex, there was no bathroom in that entire story."

"Maybe you thought it was a balcony?" Naruto ventured.

"Maybe we should just admit that I was drunk and I came onto you, Naruto."

The silence that invaded the room was swift and overwhelming. Naruto watched as Sakura cowered embarrassedly in his arms, unable to bring her eyes up to meet his at all. Her fingers were balled in the shirt he was wearing and her face was tucked into the dip of his shoulder. Naruto hugged her tighter. "So you didn't want to come onto me?"

"Uh, no, that's not quite right. I wanted to," Sakura said with a cough, "But I didn't think you would be an ass and push me away."

That was still a bit of a sore spot for Sakura's partner. Naruto refused her because he cared, because he knew that if he were to cave to temptation there was a good possibility that it would ruin everything. Love makes you do stupid things, but it also makes you do the _right_ things from time to time.

"I don't just want sex with you, Sakura," Naruto told her firmly. Glaring at her fiercely, a resolute look upon his face, Naruto added, "And I'm definitely not going to fuck you when you're drunk. I'm not losing you because you were drunk, horny, and a little lonely, and then I couldn't keep it in my pants."

"Most guys would have gone along with it."

"I'm not most guys, if you haven't noticed. I have a little bit too much invested in this to do that. I'm attracted to you, Sakura, more than you'll ever know, but I won't fuck you on a whim and ruin any chances I have at a relationship with you."

Naruto's eyes were unusually serious; his face was the furthest thing from a joke as Sakura glanced up to see if he was telling the truth. Geez, could Naruto get any weirder? If Sasuke would have been in Naruto's position, Sakura was sure that she would have been bent over that bathroom counter faster than Sasuke could have said, "Uchiha heir." The worst of it? Sasuke would have probably been impassive the next day, uncaring and unyielding to his own heart's desires. Sasuke would have fucked her without a second thought, Sakura seemed sure of that.

"So what exactly does that mean, Naruto?" Sakura questioned him, not only verbally, but also with her puffy, red eyes. Sakura inspected Naruto very closely as she waited for him to answer. Naruto was quiet again, because the words were really hard to find. This seemed to be a moment of impasse, and there was no way to deny that or get out of it. Naruto searched Sakura's face for answers, then the room, even the dusty rose blankets that were swaddled around them were useless right now. But…the book on top of them wasn't. Thank Jiraiya and his stupid, hentai brain.

Naruto snatched up the novel and flipped to a chapter where he knew the big, climactic romance scene was, then very quietly started reading from it. "Sometimes, babe, we're thrown in situations that we don't understand, and probably never will. I didn't mean to hit it off with a girl like you, honestly, I never thought I would."

Sakura giggled, rolling her eyes at the blond who was holding her against his chest with one arm and holding a porn book in the other. What in the hell was Naruto doing?

"I was this lone ninja, you see, and I was supposed to kill you…" Naruto paused, looked down at Sakura and amended himself, "Not really, I guess that part is a bit off," he whispered before reading on.

"But you see, a heart, it's a funny thing, my lil' chickadee. A heart can make a man like me fall in love with a gal like you, and I don't have any say in the matter whatsoever. So face it, babe, we're predestined to be together, cause I've never been so sure that something has been written into the stars as I am about you and me. We were meant to be, so quit denying you love me and get over here, untie me from this bed, and let's make sweet love, sweetheart."

"That…was atrocious," Sakura told Naruto with a giggle when he set the book down. "Not just bad, but horrifically awful. Someone should write Jiraiya and tell him that he needs to lay down that perverted pen of his for good."

"Yeah, other than the fact that he can write a sex scene better than any author out there, I don't have a clue why he's so popular," Naruto whispered, his eyes focused heavily on his teammate. "You know, I wasn't reading that so we could criticize ero-sennin."

"Oh, then why?" Sakura asked with a small glint of evil in her eyes. Naruto gave her an amused, but disappointed look, which the young woman countered with, "I don't see you tied to any bed, and you best not be calling me little chickadee, Naruto."

"How is it that you, the one blessed with the biggest brains of team seven, misses the hidden meaning of me reading you that?" Naruto sounded genuinely pissed.

Sakura's fingers gripped at her teammate's shirt a bit tighter, "I got it, Naruto, I just…I'm a little scared here, and I'm making sure _you_ know what you just implied."

"That I love you, and I want to stop this silly little game of avoid-the-intimacy, so let's cut the crap and just be together. That's what it meant, Sakura. No sake. No Icha Icha Assassins. Just you and me, Sakura."

The last few words Naruto spoke were a mere whisper, and his lips brushed up against Sakura's forehead as he kissed it gently. Sakura let him do that, but when he tried to kiss her properly, on the mouth, her hands were instantly slapped over her face, covering her lips from the impending kiss Naruto was trying to give her.

"What is with that?" Naruto grumbled, trying to pry the fingers away from Sakura's face.

"Hangover breath," Sakura managed to muddle out through her hands, though it was muffled severely. "Don't kiss me yet, please."

"I don't care, Sakura. I don't. Get your hands off your damn mouth and let me kiss you!" Naruto said as he tugged at her wrists now. Sakura shook her head vehemently, giggling as Naruto tried harder to get her to release her mouth.

"I don't care if it tastes like month-old milk, I'm kissing you!"

Sakura made a break for her toothbrush, Naruto close behind. He caught her in the bathroom doorway, and wrestled with her as she stretched her arm as far as she could and grabbed the toothpaste container on the counter. Sakura couldn't get to her toothbrush, it was a bit too far out of her reach, so she plastered a strip of the paste on her finger and shoved in her mouth, rubbing vigorously at the gross science experiment gone wrong on her teeth and tongue.

Naruto couldn't help but laugh at the girl in his arms. He'd secured her fairly well, his arms anchored tightly around her waist, but now she was foaming at the mouth as toothpaste was smeared _everywhere_. Naruto also noticed that her bindings were loose. Watching them with great interest, Naruto witnessed as her left breast came into view. It was perfect, pert, and the he couldn't help but to salivate at the thought of his mouth exploring that taught, pink nipple that stood out erect from her body.

Kiss her properly first, twit, Naruto told himself as he finally released her. Sakura hadn't noticed that she'd fallen out of her bindings until she rushed into the bathroom. Then she saw what a holy disaster she was. Smeared make-up, hair sticking up every which way, her left boob popping out for the world to see, and her underwear was the only thing that she was wearing other than the loosed bindings.

"No!" she shrieked and slammed the door in Naruto's face.

One of Naruto's eyebrows quirked upward, quizzically. "You okay there, Sakura?" he asked.

Sakura was already combing her hair and washing her face. Instead of trying to redo the binds that were an absolute mess of knotted bandages at this point, Sakura found her nemaki robe hanging on the back of the bathroom door. _Good enough, _she thought, _I doubt it is staying on that long anyway._ Then Sakura froze. Was she really going to sleep with Naruto? First, they were on a mission; second, no amount of combing and washing was getting rid of the sake stench which seemed to be coming out of her pores; and third, the thought _terrified_ her. She had never even kissed a guy, let alone slept with them. Her hands trembled as she reached to shut the water faucet off and then dried her face with a towel.

Opening the door slowly, eyes locked solidly on the ground beneath her, Sakura murmured, "I don't think I'm ready for this, Naruto. Sex is a big step, and so, um…"

Naruto chuckled. Silly Sakura, he didn't care about that…well, he did, but it wasn't important to him right this second. He refused to do anything to jeopardize him being with her.

"And I'm the idiot? How about you let me kiss you now, and we'll worry about that other stuff later? We have a crook to discredit and a mission to complete, Sakura. Not to mention that I plan on having you in bed _all_ day when we cross that bridge."

One of Naruto's beautiful, cerulean eyes winked at her, causing the pink-haired girl to blush. She blushed so much that Sakura swore the temperature of the room had just risen ten degrees as the flush took over her body. Naruto didn't let her think any more. Blushing, bad breath, loose bindings, her insecurities, _nothing _mattered more to Naruto than giving Sakura a proper, and very romantic kiss. With that blinding ninja speed of his, one of Naruto's hands was instantly on the small of her back, the other between her shoulder blades. Sakura gasped as he dipped her, in that cheesy, corny way that you read about in Jiraiya's books and saw in the Icha Icha movies. Holding Sakura tightly, Naruto laid his lips securely on hers. He gave her one, good, hard kissing; one that left Sakura panting and her head swimming as they returned to their normal, upright positions.

"You and me forever, lil' chickadee," Naruto joked, earning himself a needling knuckle pressing against one of his ribs as Sakura made her dislike of that nickname known. As much as she hated it, Sakura couldn't be too mad at her teammate. Naruto was just too endearing.

Still recovering from the kiss—and Sakura would forever refer to it as "_the kiss_" seeing as her brain was still scrambled, and wires were still crossed from the experience—Naruto tossed her a shirt, a new set of bindings, and a pair of tight slacks which looked like civilian wear, but gave her the ability to move fairly freely.

"Time to go take out the bad guy, I've already got most of it set up. It'll be easy enough to discredit him, so we'll probably be home tomorrow or the next day."

Sakura was still in shock. Naruto was moving professionally, slipping kunai into hidden compartments of his clothing, strapping shuriken along the inner length of his arm on an armband the blond man was wearing beneath his shirt, and even hiding a knife in one of his boots. Sakura's daze was profoundly affecting her ability to think. The kiss. Deceased kages, that was the best damn kiss in the world. Sakura could have never imagined one being better, nor did she even fathom the feelings that Naruto could drudge up inside of her when he did it.

"How can you just go on with your day like this?" she finally murmured quietly, her body still buzzing as she watched Naruto finish his preparations. "I feel like my head isn't attached to my body. Actually it isn't even describable, Naruto. Don't you feel it too?"

Naruto laughed. It was that full-body, hearty laugh that made the people around him smile. "You don't understand, Sakura, that's the way I've always felt about you. I guess I'm used to it." Naruto looked at Sakura one more time, eyeing her up and down before adding, "Do I have to dress you? We have a mission, Sakura."

A smile crept onto her lips as Sakura went back into the bathroom to change. When coming back out, she found Naruto sitting on the edge of the bed. "Ready to go?" he asked her.

"Yep, I am," she replied as she slipped one last shuriken between the valley of her breasts. Never hurt to have too many shuriken hidden on yourself.

Naruto rose and headed to the door, but Sakura stopped him and asked a single question. "So what was the main female character's pet name for the assassin?"

Naruto thought about it for a moment, and then remembered, grinning wildly when it popped into his head . "She called him, big-boy, my lil' chickadee."

Sakura rolled her eyes, "Alright, _Big-Boy_, let's go fight the bad guys and get back home." Naruto's smile was impossibly large after Sakura called him that. "After today I'm never calling you that again, and you are never calling me 'lil' chickadee' either."

Naruto led Sakura out of the door, holding hands just like they were instructed to do for their undercover identities. "Whatever you say, my lil' chickadee," Naruto told Sakura with a true smile, "Whatever you say."

* * *

_**Author's Notes**: So, I know what you are saying. "WHAT? That's it?" Yeah, for this story it is...kinda. There is another part of this series in the works, but it didn't flow enough to keep it together in the same fic, so it will be a sequel. You'll have to keep your eyes open for "Complexity" which will be in three parts and deal more with their relationship a little bit further on down the road. You have to admit that it wouldn't work for me to have them jump too far into things at this time, it would have ruined the story. Besides, Sakura isn't completely over her issues and neither is Naruto. You know that this isn't gonna be perfect for them, because issues don't resolve themselves overnight. But rest assured, my wonderful readers, there will be more. _

* * *


End file.
